Barely 48-hours after being freed by gunmen in Owerri, Imo State, a lecturer at the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), Akwa Ibom State, Prof Herbert Batta, has expressed deep thanks to God for intervening in his case.
LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that the lecturer in the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, UNIUYO, is a social critic known for his frank condemnation of authorities over the prevailing socio-economic challenges in the country.
He was kidnapped on Tuesday afternoon while returning from a trip outside the state but was freed after three hours in the den of the armed hoodlums. He was freed without harm and ransom amid intense prayer and begging.
His colleague of the same faculty, Professor Charles Obot, broke the news of his freedom, disclosing that Prof Batta, who was promoted to the rank of Professor (in Science, Health and Environmental Journalism) in September 2024, had regained his freedom from the dungeon of the kidnappers and was kept at a Police station in Owerri.
“My colleague and brother, Professor Herbert Batta who was kidnapped in Owerri on his way back from a trip, has just spoken with me from a Police Station in Owerri after being released or rescued.
“As at the time of speaking with you now, he was still at the Police station, and he delegated me to give this update on his behalf,” Prof Obot had declared amid outpouring of excitement and joy from students and colleagues at both the Nwaniba main campus and Ikpa Road town campus of the federal university.
Thanking God after regaining his freedom and returning safely to his base in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Prof Batta narrated his gruelling three-hour isolation from the social community, saying his constant resort to prayers and the prayers of concerned others were his saving grace.
“Thanks so much for all your fervent prayers and good wishes. What could have turned out as a long, harrowing torture spelling doom for health and finances turned out to be a miraculously short three-hour abduction by armed herders.
“No physical hurts, no ransom, no bloody rescue. I prayed to God and appealed to the kidnappers and freedom came. We prayed and God did it. Thanks to you all; Glory to God. May your candle burn bright and let your life taste and smell sweet. God bless you all,” he said.